FAQs FOR PARENTS AND GUARDIANS
- What is Minecraft?
- What is a Minecraft server?
- Is my child safe using your Minecraft server?
- My child does not own a copy of Minecraft, can they contribute to the project?
- Is Minecraft helping my child learn anything?
- What will happen to Participant contributions to the project?
- Where can I find my Minecraft username?
What is Minecraft?
Since it’s creation in 2009 by Mojang, Minecraft has become one of the most popular videogames in the world. It is often described as ‘digital LEGO’ where gamers can create their own adventures through exploration, crafting items and building structures.
What is a Minecraft server? *note the Archiverse server is now closed
A Minecraft server is a player-owned or business-owned game world for the videogame Minecraft which allows gamers to play online together. In the case of the East Riding Blockdown project, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council purchased a private Minecraft server to enable participants to collaborate on their contributions, or contribute from home providing they have Minecraft Java Edition and an internet connection.
Is my child safe using your Minecraft server? *note the Archiverse server is now closed
The East Riding Blockdown server, which we named the Archiverse, was a private server. To keep our Participants as safe as possible we implemented a Whitelist where Participants gain entry to the server with their Minecraft username after verification has taken place when returning their Registration forms.
The chat feature was also restricted. Whilst Participants were encouraged to engage in friendly conversation on the chat feature, the chat automatically censored swear words. Participants that broke the server rules regarding offensive content were immediately be banned from the server.
My child does not own a copy of Minecraft, can they contribute?
Yes. Keep an eye on the Archiverse Minecraft Station visiting schedule on our ‘Whats On?’ page to use one of our laptops. Our laptops run Minecraft Education Edition.
Participants under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult to sign a consent form.
Is Minecraft helping my child learn anything?
Minecraft can be used as an effective learning tool. Our Archiverse map has been customised to encourage familiarity with the East Riding Archives service, who we are and what we do. We hope that our Participants will become future users of the service.
What will happen to Participant contributions to the project?
Once the Participant has deposited their contribution into the ‘Archives Chest’, or emailed us screenshots of their work, these contributions will be archived in the real-world East Riding Archives.
Their work will be catalogued as part of our overarching COVID-19 experiences collecting project, where the East Riding Archives are collecting the East Riding community’s experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.
All contributions to the East Riding Blockdown project will be indexed as a record on our online archives catalogue www.eastriding.gov.uk/CalmView under the collections reference ERBP.
An example record in our catalogue would be:
| Collection: | East Riding Blockdown Project |
| Item reference: | ERBP/1/1 |
| Title: | ‘My Covid-19 poem’ by Joe Bloggs, age 13 (digital file) |
| Date: | 2021 |
| Description: | Includes references to homeschooling and family life |
Historians of the future will be able to request access to this item, either in the East Riding Archives research room or remotely, to use as part of their research into this historically-significant period.
Where can I find my Minecraft Username?
To access our multiplayer Archiverse server we require your Minecraft Username. This is so we can add you to our server whitelist.
Your Minecraft username is the name that appears above your character in the game. This is different from your gamertag. Please see Minecraft’s official response to this question.
East Riding Blockdown 